EXPOSED: Edward Snowden is a 'traitor' who didn't even READ top-secret files he leaked

EXPOSED: Edward Snowden is a 'traitor' who didn't even READ top-secret files he leaked

EDWARD Snowden has been branded a traitor by the former head of the Royal Navy after the American whistleblower admitted he did not read every one of the 200,000 documents he allowed to fall into the hands of terrorists.

No doubt people will die who would not have died had he not been so irresponsible.

Lord West

Former First Sea Lord and security minister Lord West said Snowden had made people fighting Britain’s terrorist enemies 'less safe' because of his revelations about government monitoring of online communications.

In a slippery TV interview Snowden – one of the world’s most wanted men - admitted he had no idea of what much of the leaked material contained and thus how many lives would be put in mortal danger as a result.

Lord West, who became a Labour peer in 2007 after a 42-year career in the Navy even said people would die as a result of Snowden’s action.

He added: "Since the revelations of the traitor Snowden, terrorist groups have changed how they communicate and talk to each other.

"His actions have made us all less safe.

"No doubt people will die who would not have died had he not been so irresponsible."

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Lord West says Edward Snowden's leaks were 'irresponsible' and will lead to people dying

Lord West's comments were supported by Robin Simcox of conservative think tank the Henry Jackson Society, who told the Mail terrorists and criminals had changed the way they operate because of Snowden.

He said: "This interview seemed to show how little Snowden had thought about the potentially deadly consequences."

Snowden, 31, appeared on American TV show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - but was evasive when pressed on whether he had actually read the 200,000 documents he had leaked.

Even if Snowden had spent just ONE minute ‘evaluating’ each document, non-stop, it would have taken him 165 working days to get through them.

However he said: "I've evaluated all the documents that are in the archive."

As the show's host pressed him, he said 'I do understand what I turned over,' before admitting 'I recognise the concern' about his and the media's competency in handling the documents.

AP

Edward Snowden is now claiming Asylum in Russia

British-born Mr Oliver referred to the New York Times publishing a slide with information relating to Al-Qaeda, which Snowden admitted was a '****-up'.

Snowden was working for the American National Security Agency when he started to become uncomfortable with the amount of snooping going on, both by the NSA and its counterparts, such as Britain's GCHQ.

He stole classified files and went to Hong Kong where he met with Guardian journalists in order to help publish articles to expose mass-surveillance.

He then went to Russia to claim asylum.

Although that has not been granted, he has been given residency in the country.